"Wade was compelled to take the broken and unloved things
and make them whole again," said Debbie Dempsey West, a friend of the slain
artist. "He wanted to resurrect them in a new way that gave such value and
beauty to things that were absolutely worthless," West said.

More than 300 people braved the heavy rains to pack into the
quaint, white clapboard Union Grove Gallery to see the artwork of Wade Wharton.

Wharton, who was slain Jan. 15 in his own yard, had been
looking forward to the opening of his first gallery show, according to Michael
David Smith, who helped get Wharton his first show at UAH and was also one of
the last people to see Wharton alive.
The last time Smith had seen him, "he had a gleam in his eye because he
was looking forward to his first show," he said.

Police have arrested and charged Ervin Akeem Tolbert with
capital murder. Tolbert, 19, is a neighbor of Wharton's on Nassau Drive.

Dozens of pieces of Whartons work were on display in the
small, white gallery nestled in the pine trees on the northwest corner of the
UAHuntsville campus. A number of pieces displayed along the sidewalks, just
like they were at Wharton's jungle-like home. Other, smaller pieces were on
display on clean white walls in contrast to the cluttered yard around Wharton's
Huntsville home.

When asked what it was like to see her father's work on a
gallery wall Wharton's daughter, Shelly Flahergy, of Birmingham, said "you see
it differently." She's glad other people will have an opportunity to look at
her father's work and see "how cool it is."

Bill Haynes, of Huntsville, met Wharton five years ago in
the Learning Quest program and has been "getting into trouble" with him ever
since, he said jokingly. Haynes likes to see the artwork on display but says,
"When you see it in his yard, you see the whole story." Haynes said the
important thing about Wharton's work is the story behind every different piece
of art. Wharton would see a shovel in the yard, but he would see the story, not
just the shovel.

Before his death, Wharton had suffered three strokes and
used a cane, and most recently a walker, to get around.

Wharton came to the public's attention in 2008 when the city
cited him for "improper storage of junk" in his southwest Huntsville
yard. He had long collected bits of metal and other castoffs he used to create
sculptures he placed around his home. After The Huntsville Times
reported on his battles with the city, Wharton developed a following of devoted
fans of his art, many of whom stepped in to help him clean up the piles of what
the city called junk.

He eventually pleaded guilty to the charge of keeping junk
in his yard and, in exchange, received no fine from the city.

Now, what some were calling junk is now adorning the walls
of a university art gallery. Wharton's work transcends any particular medium.
There is a self-portrait with a gourd hat, a metal sculpture of The Last
Supper, as well as a devil in a wagon wheel greeting the guests arriving at the
gallery.

"You had to love the man for his creativity and is
dedication to his art," said Michael David Smith.